Greece has “recognized the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court at The Hague, since 1994,” Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said on Wednesday following her address at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg.
Sakellaropoulou was responding to a question by an independent Turkish MP, who claimed that “Greece had revived some reservations in 2015 regarding the jurisprudence of the International Court on the demilitarization, the extent of the national airspace, the delimitation of territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf”. He had then asked, “Do you believe it is possible then for Greece to resort to the International Court when it continues having these reservations? Don’t you think this is particularly incompatible?”
The Greek president further responded that “in 2015, Greece renewed the recognition, making a relevant statement and adding specific exceptions, following the example of other European or non-European countries. On the contrary, Turkey, as we know, has not recognized the above jurisdiction of the court.”
Sakellaropoulou is paying a visit to Strasbourg from June 21 to 25. During her visit, she will have successive meetings with the CoE Secretary-General Marija Pejčinović-Burić, PACE President Tiny Kox, the president of the ECHR Robert Spano, the president of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe Leendert Verdeek and CoE Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatović.
The Greek president will attend the start of the judicial year at the ECHR and launch the new wing “Freedom of Expression” at its library, commemorating Prof. Stavros Tsakyrakis.
Her last stop will be a visit to the former WWII Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.
On Monday and Tuesday, she paid a visit to Luxembourg and met with Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and former European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, while she also paid a visit to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
